SUMMER

2020

SPORT, LEISURE, AND THE
BODY
Society for the Study of Social Problems

NOTES FROM THE CHAIR
Alicia Smith-Tran, PhD
Texas Christian University
Greetings, Division Members:
Between widespread violence against the Black
community, heightened political tension, and
the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, the past
few months have left me angry, anxious, and
exhausted, to say the least. The ways in which
we can and cannot engage in sport and leisure
has gotten widespread media attention, ranging
from the temporary shut down of professional
sports, uncertainty surrounding the upcoming
collegiate athletics seasons, and of utmost
importance, the inability of Black individuals in
our country to engage in activities such as
birdwatching or going for a jog without being
surveilled or killed. This is certainly not an
exhaustive list, and we are sure to see more
developments and examples in the coming
weeks and months.

INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Notes from the Chair
Virtual Annual Meeting
Member News
Paper Competition
Winners
New Publications
Contact Us

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SPORT, LEISURE, AND THE BODY | SUMMER 2020

In spite of it all, I am doing my best to
remain optimistic. The Los Angeles Lakers
recently hired a sociology professor as their
Inaugural Director of Racial Equity -- a
move I hope will inspire other athletic
organizations to dedicate more money and
time to addressing racism and exploitation
in sports. I am trying to be hopeful that
renewed rage and emphasis on Black Lives
Matter can bring about systemic changes in
policing, and can spark additional public
discourse on white privilege and
institutional racism throughout the U.S.
There is much more to say about all that is
going on, but I am sure many of you, like
me, have been inundated with news
articles, social media posts, and non-stop
conversations surrounding current affairs.
My hope is we can use our energy and
expertise as researchers, educators, and
activists to contribute to a more equitable,
safer, and healthier society. I am confident
that your presence in this organization
means you are dedicated to eradicating
racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia
and a host of other social problems. I also
hope that you are all taking some time for
self-care - as the old saying goes, you can't
pour from an empty cup.

As always, I have immense gratitude for
our newsletter editor, Tiffany Hang, and
social media manager, Kaitlin Pericak,
for all their hard work.
Finally, please encourage your
colleagues to join and renew their SSSP
memberships. It is more important than
ever.
Stay safe, and be well.
In solidarity,
Alicia Smith-Tran
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Email: a.smithtran@tcu.edu
Twitter: @aliciasmithtran

I am thrilled to highlight the work of our
graduate student paper contest winner and
runner-up in this issue, as well as other
work of our members. Please make note of
SSSP's upcoming half-day virtual
conference, and if you have not already,
please be sure to follow our division on
Facebook and Twitter.

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Save the date!
SSSP VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING
SSSP will hold a half-day virtual annual meeting on Friday, August 7 from
12:00pm-5:00pm (EDT). Click here for more information!
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
1) SSSP Business Meeting
----------------------- 12:00pm-1:00pm
2) Presidential Address
--------------1:15pm-2:15pm
3) Awards Recognition
----------------------- 2:30pm-3:15pm
4) Plenary Pandemic Focused Session ----------------------- 3:30pm-5:00pm

VIRGINIA BERNDT ON BODY
POSITIVITY AND AWARENESS
TOWARDS INVISIBLE ILLNESSES
Virginia Berndt, PhD Candidate
University of Delaware
One of our members, Virginia Berndt, was recently
highlighted in "Yass Magazine" for her research
centered on reproductive health, contraception,
disasters, and the body. Virginia openly documents
her experience with chronic illness and academia
through social media, hoping to bring awareness and
advocacy for chronically ill scholars and those with
invisible illnesses, broadly. To read more on Virginia
Berndt's research, click here!

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2020 GRADUATE STUDENT
PAPER CONTEST: FIRST PLACE
Trenton Haltom, MA
University of Nebraska

PAPER TITLE:
“Feeling like a Freak: Men Baton Twirlers, Compulsory Masculinity, and the Fag Discourse.”
My research program concerns men in "crisis" and who challenge social norms within and
across several domains: gender, sexuality, culture, health and the body; work and
occupations; and sports. My work is especially attuned to how these crises perpetuate
difference and thus social inequality.
“Feeling like a freak” is how one of my participants described being one of the few boys in
the sport of baton twirling. His sentiment comes from his experience being harassed for
being a baton twirler and subject to “fag discourse.” Fag discourse is a way men regulate
each other’s gender and sexuality, and is especially prominent for boys and men in
activities associated with women and girls.
For this paper, I was interested in how subjects of fag discourse respond to the teasing and
bullying they receive. Through qualitative interviews with 30 American male baton twirlers,
I found a response to fag discourse was to emphasize valuable characteristics of
masculinity (rather than sexuality) as if it were compulsory to their performance of gender.
The male twirlers understood baton twirling is a “blemish” on both their heterosexual and

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2020 GRADUATE STUDENT
PAPER CONTEST: FIRST PLACE
Trenton Haltom, MA
University of Nebraska
masculine credibility. Participants’ narratives also illustrated the hardships of
experiencing fag discourse. In response, they reappraised their relationship to
masculinity by attempting to regain masculine credit through mastery and success in the
sport. I argue this is evidence of the compulsoriness of masculinity.
For this paper, I was interested in how subjects of fag discourse respond to the teasing
and bullying they receive. Through qualitative interviews with 30 American male baton
twirlers, I found a response to fag discourse was to emphasize valuable characteristics of
masculinity (rather than sexuality) as if it were compulsory to their performance of
gender. The male twirlers understood baton twirling is a “blemish” on both their
heterosexual and masculine credibility. Participants’ narratives also illustrated the
hardships of experiencing fag discourse. In response, they reappraised their relationship
to masculinity by attempting to regain masculine credit through mastery and success in
the sport. I argue this is evidence of the compulsoriness of masculinity.
My entry point into this line of research comes from my own time as a competitive baton
twirler, performer, and now judge with the National Baton Twirling Association. I
collected data for this project for my Master’s thesis in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Houston where I graduated in 2015. Data from this research has also been
published in Sociology of Sport Journal and as a chapter in Body Battlegrounds:
Transgressions, Tensions, and Transformations (Bobel and Kwan, 2019).
In my dissertation, I explore how magazines as cultural products present men and
sociocultural shifts in masculinity. I examine representations of men, their bodies,
masculinity, and sexuality in GQ, Men’s Health, and Sports Illustrated over time (19802018) using a mixed method content analyses of covers (N = 2750). My coauthored work
has been published in Gender & Society, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Deviant Behavior,
Journal of Men’s Studies, and other outlets. I look forward to entering the job market this
fall and graduating in summer 2021. You can follow me on twitter @tmhaltom or visit my
website (www.tmhaltom.com).

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2020 GRADUATE STUDENT
PAPER CONTEST: RUNNER-UP
Shaonta' E. Allen, MA
University of Cincinnati

PAPER TITLE:
"#ImWithKaep: Celebrity Influence, Frame Diffusion, and Youth Activism"
During the 2016 season, Colin Kaepernick's demonstrations on the football field drew
attention to the Black Lives Matter Movement and the ongoing issue of police brutality in
America. Soon after, student athletes across the country began to use their local sport
platforms to protest in a similar fashion. While scholarly literature commonly
acknowledges social media and popular culture's ability to entertain, distract and even
pacify youth, thus deterring political activism, studies have yet to address whether or not
celebrities can alternatively inspire youth engagement in social activism. To examine this
further. the present study investigates how Kaepernick's social activism influenced young
athlete-activists. A content analysis of 590 articles covering athlete-activism between
August 2016 and May 2018 reveals that stories covering youth activists shared four media
frames with stories covering Kaepernick’s protests: (1) The Agitation Frame, (2) The
Responsibility Frame, (3) The Protest Frame, and (4) The Backlash Frame.

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2020 GRADUATE STUDENT
PAPER CONTEST: RUNNER-UP
Shaonta' E. Allen, MA
University of Cincinnati
Given these findings, I argue that frame diffusion - the process in which movement beliefs,
objects, and practices spread from one social location to another - is evidenced here as
high-school and college athlete-activists adopted Kaepernick’s political ideologies and
demonstration tactics. This study ultimately extends our understanding of celebrity
influence by illustrating how professional athlete-activism can inspire and mobilize youth
activists.
My broad research agenda addresses how Black people perceive and respond to racial
inequality. I specifically focus on three institutions when examining these processes:
religion, higher education, and Pop-Culture/Sport. For this reason, Kaepernick's protest in
2016 initially caught my interest. But what was more fascinating to me was seeing how
student-athletes across the country began to mirror his protest. So I decided to look into
this phenomenon further. As this project was developing, I was selected into the Centre on
Social Movement Studies 2018 Summer School in Florence, Italy. That year's theme was
"Youth Political Participation in Times of Increasing Inequality." Workshopping this paper
with scholars from across the world who were also studying youth activism definitely
enhanced my thoughts on this project.

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New

PUBLICATIONS
FROM DIVISION
MEMBERS

We are happy to share new publications from our division members! The range of topics
covered –within the areas of sport, leisure, and the body, as well as beyond –
demonstrates the reach of our members’ voices and contributions to scholarly
conversations. If you would like your new publication(s) to be included in the next issue,
please email Newsletter Editor Tiffany Hang at tiffany.hang@tcu.edu

Barnes, Sarah. 2020. “'The Best Recovery you Could Possibly Get': Sleep, Rest, and the
National Basketball Association.” Sociology of Sport Journal. Forthcoming.
Cabin, William. 2020. “In the Realm of Haunting Ghosts: Denying the existence of Substance
Abuse in Medicare Home Health.” Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work 2: 226-36.
Cabin, William. 2020. “Social Workers Assert Medicare Home Care Ignores Social
Determinants of Health.” Home Health Care Management & Practice. Forthcoming.
Cabin, William. 2020. “'Less is Better' Philosophy Decreases Home Health Aide Utilization
to Increase Reimbursement in Medicare Home Health.” Home Health Care Management &
Practice 32(2): 105-109.
Burke, Kelsy, and Trenton M. Haltom. 2020. “Created by God and Wired to Porn:
Redemptive Masculinity and Gender Beliefs in Narratives of Religious Men’s Pornography
Addiction Recovery.” Gender & Society 34(2): 233-58.
Worthen, Meredith G.F., and Trenton M. Haltom. 2020. “Fifty Shades of Leather and
Misogyny: An Investigation of Anti-Woman Perspectives among Leatherman.” Deviant
Behavior. Forthcoming.
Haltom, Trenton M. 2020. “A New Spin on Gender: How Parents of Male Baton Twirlers
(Un)Do Gender Essentialism.” Sociology of Sport Journal. Forthcoming.

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New

PUBLICATIONS
FROM DIVISION
MEMBERS

Alamo-Pastrana, Carlos, and William Hoynes. 2020. “Racialization of News: Constructing
and Challenging Professional Journalism as ‘White Media.’” Humanity and Society 44(1): 6791.
Shelby, Renee. 2020. “Value-Responsible Design and Sexual Violence Interventions.”
Routledge Handbook of Public Criminologies 286–98.
Smith-Tran, Alicia. 2020. “Exploring the Benefits and Drawbacks of Age Disclosure among
Women Faculty of Color.” Teaching Sociology 48(1): 3-12.
Smith-Tran, Alicia. 2020. “A Life Course Perspective on the Start of Black Middle-Class
Women’s Recreational Running Careers.” Sociological Spectrum. Forthcoming.
Smith-Tran, Alicia. 2020. “‘Finally Something for Us’: Black Girls Run! and Racialized
Space-Making in Recreational Running.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues. Forthcoming.

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CONNECT
WITH US:
Let us know what you are working on! Please
send information on recent articles, reports,
presentations, etc. to Tiffany Hang at
tiffany.hang@tcu.edu

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